Single-file customizable release + changelog tool for Ruby projects.
Designed with Rails in mind, but easily tweaked for any type of project.

Example Changelog — Commits since last Git tag are used to help amend your changelog.
Messages are parsed for common words to generate ASCII or Emoji line indicators.

### 1.1 (2017-01-01)

* __`NEW`__ This commit added something
* __`~~~`__ This commit changed something
* __`!!!`__ Fixed a bug here
* __`-!-`__ Removed a feature

$ cd lib/tasks
$ curl -OL https://git.io/release.rake

Review the "Configuration" section of the new rake file.

• version_file points to the hard-coded location of your project's version (sample below)
• version_lambda provides a method for retrieving the current version at runtime

Need a version file? — config/version.rb

module MyApp
  VERSION = '1.0.0'
end

Test the installation

$ rake release:current
1.0.0

release.rake is designed as a single-file, and directly installed in your project, to encourage users read, understand, and modify it to meet their needs. Most of the commands are summarized below, but for best results consult the source file.

The shortcut task section is a great place to start tweaking your install. For example the :next task prereqs determine which version segment should be bumped, or adjust the commit message in the :prep task.

$ rake release:next

• Bumps minor, generates changelog, prints further instructions.
• Does NOT automatically commit changes.

$ rake release:prep

• Bumps minor with "pre" suffix.
• Commits version file change automatically.

$ rake release:changelog

• Generate changelog from Git events since last tag.
• Changes are added to the top of the configured changelog_file
  • Above any previous release, but below other information you add to the top of the file.

$ rake release:bump              # patch, full-release
# 1.0.0 -> 1.0.1

$ rake release:bump[2, pre]      # minor, "pre"-release
# 1.0.0 -> 1.1.pre

• Updates configured version_file.
• Does NOT automatically commit changes.

$ rake release:commit            # commit + tag

• Commits changed version/changelog files...
  • Tags release, uses configured commit_message
  • Will be signed if user.signingkey is set on local repo
• Tag or message can be customized as command parameters.

Versioneer is a gem for dynamically generating prerelease versions based on commits since last tag, thus avoiding any need to "prep" for future releases.

Adjust your project's version file to manage the hardcoded release in a separate constant.

config/version.rb

require 'versioneer'

module MyApp
  RELEASE = '1.0'
  begin
    VERSION = Versioneer::Config.new(File.expand_path('../../', __FILE__)).to_s
  rescue Versioneer::InvalidRepoError
    VERSION = self::RELEASE
  end
end

lib/tasks/release.rake

version_lambda = lambda { Object.const_get(Rails.application.class.name.sub(/::.+$/, ''))::RELEASE }